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42
THE FUTURE CITIZEN.
PAGE 5.
f
I.
NAUGHTINESS BY PROXY $
By EVERETT D. MARTIN *
HERE are two ways of en
joying a ball game.
You can go out and play
ball, or you can sit in the!
grand stand and enjoying
seeing other men play.
It you are much interested in the
game, and would like to play it,
but are too lazy or fat or unskilled,
you will probaly confine your in
terest in baseball to the grand stand,
and still have a lot of fun out of
the game.
Now, there are likewise two j
ways of being a sinner.
First, you can go and do some- j
thing wrong-try to get some
happiness out of this world that is i
not in it, and in the end pay the'
inveitable penalty for volating the
laws of nature.
Second, if you havn’t the nerve
to go down and do wrong yourself,
you can have a lot of forbidden fun i
gloating over other people’s sins.
You can enjov all kinds of sins by
proxy, cherish them in your soul,
think about them, magnify them,
and corrupt everyone you know b}’
talking about them—that is.you
can become a gossip.
A gossip is one who enjoys evil
tecond hand. !
This second method is coming
to be more popular way to sin.
There are no risks in it; you get
the enjoyment and the other fellow
pays the price.
You can even be more licentious
in this second way than the origi
nal sinner can; for you can give
your evil imaginations full play,
while the poor wretch who actually
commits the sin soon finds his im
agination checked up by the cruel
facts and is disillusioned.
Another advantage to the gos
sip method of indulging in sin is
that you can meanwhile retain
your respectability.
You may even increase your
popularity by always having some
racy story to tell.
Moreover, you can indulge your
self to the limit in your pet vice
and by letting yourself be scand
alized—or half envious—when
someone else does the thing you
would like to do yourself, you can
then express your resentment as
outraged moral sentiment, and
your gloating over evil as concern
for the welfare of your sinful
neighbor, and in this way if you
practice a liitle you may enjoy all
the forbidden pleasures of sin, and
at the same time feel quite respect
able and superior.
The gossip method of skimming
the cream off sin is one of the
great discoveries of modern times,!
but there is one difficulty about it. |
And that is that while the person
who actually does wrong sooner or
later bumps up against the stone
w.dl, learns the foily of his ways
and quits, he who indulges in rot
tenness by proxy always imagines
that it is only his poor stumbling
neighbor who finds pleasure in
evil, and failing to see that it is
really only himself who gets any
pleasure out of the world’s wicked
ness, he is apt to go on through
life umepentent, and die, and be,
dammed, so to speak, to his utter
us'onishment before he learns that
he is a sinner.—Reformatory Press.
Over tiie Hills and Far Away
Over the hills and far away,
A little boy steals from his morning
play
And under the blossoming apple-tree
He lies and dreams of things to be:
Of battles fought and of victories won,
Of wrongs o’er thrown and of great
deeds done—
Of the valor that he shall prove some
day,
Over the hills and far away—
Over the hills and far awayl
Over the hills and far away
It’s, oh, for the toil the livelong dayl
But it mattereth not to the soul a-
flame
With a love for riches and power and
fame!
On, 0 man! while the sun is high—
On to the certain joys that lie
Yonder where blazeth the noon of day,
Over the hills and far away—
Over the hills and far awayl
Over the hills and far away,
An old man lingers at the close of day;
Now that his journey is almost done,
His battle fought and his victories won
The old time honesty and truth,
The trustfulness and the friends of
youth,
Home and mother—where are they?
Over the hills and far away—
Over the hills and far awayl
—Eugene Field
CHOOSE YOUR ROAD
In the life of every young man,
no matter where he be employed or
what vocation he follows, there is
a turning point, a place where the
business ro id forks, and where he
must decide which way he shall
travel.
This is a dangerous and hazardous
point, because there is no sign post
to guide him.
Look around and note the succes
ses you ktiow—these are the people
who choese the right road and
followed it to its end. On the other
hand, turn again and note the
wrecks and failures; these are the
ones who choese to follow the road
which leads through the mire and
impracticability.
It is as easy to choose ond road
as it. is another—both appear before
you, broad, open and paved with
good intentions, but how different
do they appear while traveling to
their terminal? The road of suc
cess starts with a hill and presents
many obstacles, but at the other end
it opens broad and inviting upon
the business goal.
The road to failure generally pre
sents, at its start, a beautiful ap
pearance; look, fine, the opportu
nity elegant, and at the start nor
nearly so fatiguing, but this rosy
outline is a delusion and a snare,
for as you go further down the road,
it narrows down and dwindles to a
point where disaster looms up and
you join the ranks of failures con
gregated there.
Which will you choose—hoth
roads lie before you.—The Boy
Agriculturist ?
ANGER
The remedies againsc anger are
first, to prevent it, if possible, or to
occupy the mind with thought
which tend to allay the movements
of the heart when excited; second,
to imitate the apostle who in time
of tempest had recourse to God, to
whom it belongs to give peace to
the heart; third, to do nothing, to
say nothing during the time the
heart is agitated, relating to that
which caused the heart to rise in
anger; fourth, to oblidge ourselves
to make acts of sweetdess and
humility toward those with whom
we are inclined to be angry—Ex.
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